Tenants, housing advocates demand support for renters amid latest COVID-19 restrictions

When Ruba Ullah got the notice from the University of Toronto that school would resume in person in September last year, she went apartment hunting.

"It wasn't an easy process to find something I could afford," Ullah said. The first-year student in the doctor of pharmacy program ended up landing an apartment within her budget and signed a one-year lease — but then school went online as COVID-19 cases rose.

"I moved back with my parents in Montreal because I didn't need to be in Toronto, but I still had to keep paying rent," she said.

Since she signed the lease she's only spent about two months in the apartment, as COVID-19 protocols at universities have continuously shifted from in-person to remote learning. She said for the month of January, she'll remain in Montreal with her parents.

But she doesn't want to risk breaking her lease and vacating in case in-person classes resume in a matter of weeks.

"I don't know if we'll be back in person in February, so I can't give the 60 days notice because I might have to be in class in February," she said. Ullah added it was so challenging to find the apartment in the first place, she doesn't want to take a risk and give it up, and not be able to find something she can afford again.

She also said she also hasn't been able to find a part-time job during the pandemic.

"I'm using my savings, a line of credit and some support from my parents too, so I'm very grateful for that."

Ontario announced Monday it is moving schools online for at least two weeks, temporarily closing indoor dining and gyms and pausing non-urgent medical procedures as it faces record-high case counts that, according to public health officials, threaten to overwhelm the province's health-care system.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing says it will continue to explore potential further measures to support renters. But tenants like Ullah and housing advocates say more needs to be done, as the province's rent increase guideline for 2022 at 1.2 per cent came into effect Jan. 1.

The new restrictions are part of a modified version of Step Two of the province's Roadmap to Reopen, which was first implemented earlier last year. However, the province also implemented pauses on eviction enforcement and a rent freeze at that time, and advocates say those measures need to be in place again.

Cole Webber, a community legal worker with Parkdale Community Legal Services, says evictions have been happening throughout the pandemic.

"Today, sheriffs are out removing tenants from their homes in the dead of winter," he said.

"What relief has been made available for those who qualify for it, has been desperately inadequate considering the high rents people pay and with emergency benefits being cut or greatly reduced."